Wong: ‘Residential property loan growth will moderate this year.’

More selective measures on loans to the property sector, among others aimed at curbing speculation, could be in the pipeline judging from the strong lending to the industry and continued elevated home prices, according to analysts.

Analysts contacted tell StarBizWeek that the property measures will not be hard measures but more likely be selective and macro prudential-based, which could be introduced in the near term due to higher total exposure of financial institutions to the property sector.

Hard measures include those relating to real property gains tax and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for property purchases.

Based on Bank Negara’s Financial Stability and Payment Systems Report 2014 total exposures of financial institutions to the property sector amounted to RM628.5bil or 23% (2013: 21.9%) of total financial system assets as at end-2014. Financial institutions here includes banks, development and selected non-bank financial institutions and insurers as well as takaful operators.

Bank exposures alone accounted for the bulk (95.4%) of this, with property-related financing and private debt securities (PDS) held by banks increasing slightly during the year to 26.6% (2013: 25.4%) of total assets of the banking system.

About 65% of bank exposures to property is concentrated in the residential property end-financing market, while end-financing for the purchase of land and commercial properties make up about 30% of total property-related exposures.

Total property loans ( residential and non-residential) as at January (2015) makes up 42% of banking system loans.

Some of the macro prudential measures to curb speculation in the property sector, analysts say, could be in the form of higher tax on non-owners of properties or homes occupied by non-owners as oppose to genuine owners of properties as practised in Singapore and the standardisation of the minimum price of property that can be bought by foreigners – which is at RM1mil currently – to all states in the country.

Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) chief economist Nor Zahidi Alias agrees there is a possibility that macro prudential measures to curb speculation in the property sector could be unveiled in the near terms in view of the high total exposure of financial institutions to the property sector.

“Total exposure of financial institutions to the sector contined to climb to 23% of total financial system assets in 2014 from 21.9% in 2013.”

At the same time, he adds, home prices continued to remain elevated, estimated at 6.6 times of household median income.

“We foresee that more selective measures are likely to be introduced by the the central bank to ensure softer property loan growth in the near and medium term, although weaker economic growth in itself will reduce borrowers’ appetite for debt accumulation this year.

“In addition, souring business and consumer sentiment will also lead to stricter lending standards going forward,’’ he notes.

DBS Group Research analyst Lim Sue Lin says the research house will not discount the possibility of further measures for property lending.

“Take Singapore’s case for example. It took two years before the effect was seen in the sector.

“The republic abolished the Interest Absorption Scheme (IAS) – which is similar to the developers interest bearing schemes (DIBs) – in 2009 to curb speculation, but the impact was muted due to robust demand for properties and low interest rates in the country.

“It took Singapore two years to see a moderation in mortgage growth from a peak of 23% in August 2010 to 16% in September 2012, and finally 12% in September 2013. The first loan-to-value (LTV) ratio tightening measure there was introduced in February 2010,’’ she said in an email reply.

At the same time, Lim and other analysts say there is a need to monitor the applications and approvals for mortgages.

Among some of the broad cooling measures which had been introduced by Bank Negara for the property sector is the 70% LTV cap on a borrower’s third and subsequent property-financing facility, lowering of the maximum tenure for property loans to 35 years from 45 years, the abolition of DIBs, raising of the real property gains tax and increasing the cap on foreigners buying properties to RM1mil from RM500,000.

RAM Ratings co-head of financial institution ratings Wong Yin Ching says the rating agency does not expect further restrictions on loans to this sector in the near term with macro prudential measures on property lending gradually achieving their desired impact.

“Although residential property loans grew by a strong 13% in 2014, property loan applications were visibly lower while loan approvals were flat last year.

“This lends support to our view that residential property loan growth will moderate this year.

“These cooling measures have also significantly slowed down growth in higher-risk personal financing and credit card facilities,” she adds.

Sharing the same views as Wong, OCBC Bank (M) Bhd country chief risk officer Jeroen Thijs notes: “The intended effects of the macroprudential and fiscal measures introduced since end 2013 seem to be having an effect as the rate of growth in the housing price index has slowed down markedly.

“As such, we do not anticipate the central bank will introduce any additional measures in the short term.”

On the rising household debt to GDP in Malaysia at 87.9% last year (2013: 86.7%), Wong says while she acknowledges Malaysia’s relatively high household debt to GDP level, RAM Ratings does not expect a systemwide deterioration in household loan quality.

This ratio is expected to stay high, reflecting the fundamental demand for home and vehicle financing by the young population, she says, adding that to date, the asset-quality indicators of household loans remain benign.

Against a backdrop of low employment rate, still-healthy domestic economic growth and accommodative interest rate environment, any slippage in household credit quality is expected to be tolerable, Wong says.

Source: StarProperty.my

The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Redha) expects property prices to increase by 6.2% once the Goods and Services Tax (GST) kicks in on April 1, due to certain building materials which are taxed under the regime.

Residential properties are exempt from GST.

“94% of the survey’s respondents are very worried over the GST’s impact on overall business costs”, Rehda president Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said during the launch of its’ property industry survey results for the second half of 2014, adding that it is one of the key issues faced by the property sector presently.

He said the other equally important issues were financing for buyers, as well as challenges related to utility service providers and local authorities.

Among other examples indicating how serious things were, Iskandar said launches of residential and commercial units for the second half of 2014 dropped by 62.9% and 81.6% respectively, in contrast to the figures seen in the first half.

“Most distressing are first-time buyers wanting but (being) unable to purchase affordable housing,” noting that from 2013 to 2014, loan rejections over sales rose by 7%.

Iskandar said its issues with utilities service providers were on ensuring proper access to electricity, water, and sewage for their new projects.

He also observed that slow approval processes, inconsistent policies/guidelines and high development charges from the local authorities such as town councils only served to compound matters.

“The government on a state and federal level ought to engage the private sector in addressing these issues effectively, in particular to increase the purchasing power of Malaysians,” he urged.

Source: TheSunDaily.my

For those who are interested in affordable housing projects, officers from the state housing department together with PDC will be going to Gurney Plaza this Saturday (21 March) for the ‘Mission: Home-Possible’ road-show, to showcase affordable housing projects, as well as assisting potential buyer to submit their completed application forms.

Click on the link below to find out more details about affordable housing projects in Penang. There are currently 8 projects open for registration.

>> Full list of Affordable Housing in Penang <<

Applicants are advised to bring along the following documents to facilitate their registration:

• Photocopy of applicant’s identity card and their spouse
• Photocopy of certificate of marriage / sijil nikah / statutory declaration of marriage
• Photocopy of certificate of divorce or death certificate of spouse (if relevant)
• Photocopy of children / dependents’ identity card or birth certificate
• Confirmation letter of employer / photocopy of pay slip for both applicant and spouse
• Employee’s Provident Fund (KWSP) statement of applicant and spouse
• Letter of confirmation from KWSP if the applicant or spouse are not EPF contributors
• Statutory declaration of income for applicant and spouse (for those running their own business / working on their own)
• Photocopy of business registration certificate / trade license (for those running their own business)
• Form B of Income Tax (for those running their own business)
• Photocopy of OKU card (if relevant)
• Letter of confirmation by employer confirming residence of at least 5 years in Penang

The eligibility criteria for applicants for affordable housing, are as follows:-

• must be a Malaysian citizen
• born in Penang, working in Penang and a registered voter in Penang; or having resided in Penang for at least 5 years as at the date of application, and a registered voter in Penang
• 21 years old and above
• nett household income of not more than RM2,500 for low cost units
• nett household income of not more than RM3,500 for low medium cost units
• nett household income of not more than RM6,000 for affordable housing units under RM200,000
• nett household income of not more than RM8,000 for affordable housing units under RM300,000
• nett household income of not more than RM10,000 for affordable housing units under RM400,000
• for low and low medium cost units, the applicant must not have owned any property in Malaysia
• for affordable housing units, the applicant will be given priority if he or she does not own any property in Malaysia but if they have owned either a low or low medium cost unit, the applicant may still be considered

The Goods and Services Tax will not be imposed on rentals of commercial units below RM500,000 a year, says Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The prime minister said the government had also decided that supply services for all stratified residential houses would be GST-exempt.

He said under subsection 18(2) of the Goods and Services Act 2014, services for owners of low-cost and medium-cost stratified houses are GST-exempt.

“The exemption has been extended to cover all categories of stratified houses, meaning any fees imposed by management bodies and joint management bodies (JMBs) on maintenance and management including sinking fee contributions are exempted from the GST,” he said in his written reply to Ng Wei Aik (DAP-Tanjong) today.

Ng had wanted to know whether the GST would be imposed on maintenance and management fees and sinking fund contributions.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the GST will apply if JMBs or management bodies make taxable supplies such as rentals on commercial units exceeding RM500,000 a year.

On Nov 28 last year, several property-related agencies submitted a petition calling for zero tax for maintenance charges, sinking fund contributions and all related contributions or charges payable.

On Jan 5 this year, the Finance Ministry agreed to extend GST exemption from low- and medium-cost properties to all stratified residential properties.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong said false input tax credit claims would be one of the challenges for the GST, which will be implemented on April 1.

Such false claims are often faced by countries like Singapore that have introduced the GST, he told reporters after meeting representatives from the Royal Customs Department and used car and motorcycle dealer associations in Putrajaya today.

Chua said other challenges in the GST implementation include errors made by companies in their GST-compliant software and tax assessments.

“That is why the government is urging companies to register before the GST implementation to enable them to qualify for the advisory period,” he said.

On the call to postpone the GST implementation, Chua said the government had fully prepared for the implementation since October 2013, adding the new tax regime had been successfully implemented in 169 countries. Chua said used vehicle prices will go down with the approval of the Margin Scheme by the government following appeals from some 4,000 association members and used motorcycle traders.

The scheme prevents double taxation on the used goods, he said. – BERNAMA

State executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo during his talk on ‘Affordable Housing’ at the Star Property Fair 2015 at Sunway Carnival Convention Centrein Seberang Jaya yesterday

The Penang government has received over 8,000 applications for its affordable housing units priced from RM200,000 to RM400,000.

“The response is very encouraging and I urge Penangites to register for them as the chances of being allocated a unit is very high,” said state Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

He said this in his talk on affordable housing at the Star Property Fair 2015 held at the Sunway Carnival Mall and Convention Centre in Seberang Jaya yesterday.

Jagdeep added that applicants could also get to chose their preferred project.

“We think this option is only fair as potential buyers know what they are getting,” he said.

He added that the state had also being engaged in serious talks with banks to provide special preferential loans to low-cost (LC) and low medium-cost (LMC) property applicants.

“We hope the banks will get back to us soon,” he said.

He said the state government had 22,545 units of LC, LMC and affordable housing units while the private sector had about 10,000 units.

In a separate talk on Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) and Goods and Services Tax (GST), AljeffriDean managing partner Neoh Chin Wah said that before the implementation of the GST, property buyers needed to know whether the gains were taxable under the income tax or the RPGT.

“But with GST, the situation has become more complex. It may look like you actually have to pay only the 6% GST instead of the 10% sales and government tax, but the cost to implement GST is very heavy.

“For example, developers have to engage more staff to handle the process of implementing GST.

“This administrative cost needs to be passed on, if they want to make a profit,” Neoh said.

MNP Auctioneers (Central) Sdn Bhd managing director Stephen Soon said the number of property auctions in Penang was expected to increase this year.

He said the number of properties which were auctioned in Penang a year ago was between 300 and 500 a month.

“Due to the rising cost of living and a high household debt ratio, we can expect to see the figure moving up this year,” he said.

The number of forthcoming properties to be auctioned in Penang is 156, according to Soon.

“In Kedah, the number is 161 while in the Klang Valley, it is 573,” Soon said.

Soon was delivering his talk on ‘Buy Auction Properties, It is Truly Affordable’ at the Star Property Fair 2015 held at the Sunway Carnival Mall and Convention Centre in Seberang Jaya.

He said buyers of auctioned properties could apply for bank loans and the legal fees involved were the same as those bu-ying a property in the subsale or primary market.

In a separate talk on choosing an auspicious property, Indian Feng Shui expert T. Selva said more developers were building residential and commercial properties according to the principles of Indian vasthu sastra or Chinese feng shui.

“There is demand for such properties, which are designed according ancient values, as the buyers want to live in peace, happiness and good health,” he said.

Selva said the Indian vasthu sastra has become increasingly popular as it is not based on racial beliefs.

“Furthermore, it is also easy to follow as there is no need to renovate a home to adopt the principles.

“All you need to do is to rearrange the interior of a house,” Selva said.

He added that the period starting from March is an auspicious time to buy property for investment.

Meanwhile, Zeon Properties chief executive officer Leon Lee said in his talk on ‘Infrastructure: The Key to Property Development’ that infrastructure plays an important role in influencing the value of properties.

“Infrastructure is commonly perceived to comprise only roads and transportation system. But, infrastructure also encompasses electricity, water supply, and telecommunication system,” he said.

He added that in Penang, the property prices near the second Penang bridge had also shot up.

“A terrace house that cost RM795,000 in 2008 now costs RM1.45mil in 2014,” he said.

With the RM6.3bil mega projects being planned in Penang, Lee said property owners and potential buyers in the vicinity of the projects could anticipate a price increase.

These projects are the 6.5km undersea tunnel from Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam, 4.2km Gurney Drive-Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu bypass, 4.6km Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Ching Eu-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass and a 12km road connecting Tanjung Bungah and Teluk Bahang.

Source: StarProperty.my